Something to Prove
by Dream Painter
Summary: Major Lorne and one the new Atlantis personnel can't seem to get along. Tensions rise...
1. Chapter 1

**Something to Prove**  
by _Dream Painter_

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**DISCLAIMER: **In case anyone might wonder--Stargate Atlantis is not mine, nor (coincidentally) are the characters. The storyline is mine, however, and any similarity to any other fic is purely unintentional.

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Chapter One  
Major Evan Lorne was standing idly near the gate room, leaning against a door frame.

"Major," a familiar voice asked, "what are you doing here? I thought you were heading to your quarters."

"Cadman," he said without having to look at the woman to verify her identity. "Haven't you had enough of me? We were stuck on that planet for a week."

"Yeah, well I was on my way to talk to Dr. Weir," Laura told him. "You still didn't answer my question, sir."

"Ah—what am I doing here? There's a new shipment of recruits coming through from Earth any minute and one of them's gonna end up on our team, so I was just waiting for them. The poor bastards," he gave his 2IC a wry smile, "no amount of training could possibly prepare them for what they'll face here. If the wraith don't get to 'em, something in the city probably will, and if not that, they're sure to piss off one of the scientists eventually."

"I know what you mean," the lieutenant grinned. Their last team member had lasted all of four months. He'd been contracted for a year. "I think it was Kavanaugh who finally did Bryant in... or was it the food on M7G-669?" Evan laughed.

"Maybe it was both." The gate activated and Chuck confirmed Earth's IDC a few moments later. Then the recruits started pouring through.

"Sure beats having to come on the Daedalus," Cadman noted. Evan liked watching the looks on peoples' faces when they first came to Atlantis. Always, there was a mixture of awe, surprise, and respect. Some reactions were better than others—like the one time a young scientist came through and fainted at "the wonder of it all." Everyone finally got through and Weir and some others were greeting them. Evan turned to leave.

That's when he saw him.

His short brown hair looked as though he'd just combed it once and left it, his stride was confident—almost too confident—and the corner of his mouth had a tendancy to quirk a little before he smiled. He was smiling now, the little punk. In that moment, as the younger man walked towards him, Evan wasn't entirely sure what he was feeling, but it was intense. One thing he knew, he didn't want that guy to be here.

"Marcus," Evan said when he stood face to face with him. Laura looked from one to the other in surprise. Marcus' grin got bigger.

"Hi, brother."

---


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Elizabeth Weir was just sitting down at her desk when there was a sharp rap at her office door.

"Come in," she called, glancing up to see that it was Major Lorne. The man entered, crossed over to her desk, and planted his palms on it, his actions swift and abrupt.

"What is he doing here?" Evan demanded before she could wonder what was going on.

"I'm afraid I'm not sure who you're talking about," Weir told him. "I was about to go over the new personnel list—I didn't catch everyone's names."

"Marcus," Lorne said as she glanced at the list. "Under 'L.' Lt. Marcus Lorne." Her eyes widened slightly at the name, but sure enough, there it was on the list.

"Are you related to him, Major?" she asked.

"He's my brother," the man answered tensely. "What's he doing here?"

"Well, I assume he's here to help defend Atlantis," Weir replied, grabbing Marcus' folder and perusing the contents.

"Send him back."

"What? Major, your brother comes to us with sound recommendations." Evan pressed a hand against his forehead as though he had a headache.

"You don't understand," he told her. "He's my kid brother! I can't keep an eye on him—I can't be wondering what kind of mischief he's getting into while either one of us is off-world. Just... send him back."

"Major, I'm sure you've probably noticed, but Marcus is not a child anymore," Weir pointed out. "He's a grown man."

"Nah," Evan shook his head, "you don't know him like I do—he's always getting himself into scrapes. Always has. Please, Dr. Weir. I can't be worrying about him all the time."

"Evan, Marcus signed a two-year contract," she informed him. "He wants to be here—I'm not going to send him back."

"But, Doct--"

"If you're so worried about him, then why don't I put him on your team? Just on a trial basis to see how it works."

"I'm not worried about him—I just want him to stay outta trouble," Evan straightened, trying to hide his obvious concern. "But, yeah. I guess that'll be fine... I really appreciate it."

"Alright," Elizabeth said. "Consider it done." The air force major turned and left them room, an earlier scene playing through his mind...

---

_About an hour earlier, gate room_

"Hi, brother," Marcus was wearing his smuggest grin, knowing that he'd caught his older brother entirely off-guard.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Evan demanded. Lt. Cadman was still watching the scene in surprise.

"Not exactly the welcome I expected, but..." Marcus began.

"Since when did you have this kind of security clearance?"

"For awhile," the younger man set his jaw, defiantly meeting his brother's gaze. Laura finally manage to blink. The two of them were practically identical, except Marcus was at least three inches shorter. She slowly turned and left the scene, leaving the two of them to their moment.

"For awhile?" Evan repeated. "What kind of answer is that?"

"Long enough!" Marcus retorted. "Jeez, I'm not a kid anymore! I've been working at the SGC, idiot. Not that you even bothered to ask. Nice seeing you again, too." The lieutenant turned and rejoined the other new personnel as Evan stalked away. He would talk to Weir about this later...

---

_Mess hall_

Evan sat at a table by himself, idly pushing food around his plate. A tray appeared on the table across from him. He looked up.

"Mind if I sit here, sir?" Laura asked.

"Nah—take a seat," he motioned for her to sit. She sat and quietly took a couple bites of food.

"So..." she began.

"So?" Evan prompted, knowing she was getting at something and pretty sure he knew what it was.

"In the gate room—who was that?"

"His name's Marcus," the man answered evasively.

"Yeah, I got that, but who _is_ he? He really your brother?" Cadman wanted to know.

"Yeah, he's my brother," Evan told her. "He's four years younger than me."

"He looks just like you," she commented, taking a drink of her water. "You could be twins." Evan smiled.

"I get that a lot." Laura began to pick at her food, uncertain of how much she could get away with asking, particularly since her CO didn't seem too open to talking about his brother.

"You didn't seem too happy to see him here," she finally said, looking down at her plate. She glanced up to see him looking at her with what was almost a glare.

"If you found out that your little brother had come here, would you be happy to see him?" Evan asked.

"Well, sir, I don't have a younger brother, but if I did, I'd probably much rather see him back on Earth," Laura answered honestly. Evan nodded once and returned to eating his food. She watched him for a moment before following suit. There was nothing else to say.

---

_Several days later_

Major Evan Lorne and his team, consisting of Lieutenants Cadman and Lorne and Dr. Parrish, met in the gate room, ready to leave on their first mission with their newest member. Laura had adopted an expression of bemusement. She had observed the two siblings over the last couple days and she was pretty sure that this mission would prove interesting—if not due to David's incessant ramblings about vegetation and such, then certainly the tension between the Lorne brothers would provide plenty of entertainment. She smiled to herself. Time would tell...

"Alright! Let's move out!" Evan declared once they got the all clear from Elizabeth. "And I don't need any trouble from you," he told Marcus as they stepped through the event horizon.

"Aw—I'm not gonna cause any trouble!" Marcus groaned on the other side, muttering something under his breath as they walked away from the gate. It took less time for Parrish to begin babbling about plants than it usually did, though neither Laura nor Evan really knew why.

"Oh! Oooh!" the scientist exclaimed. "Look at this! Look AT this! Do you know how rare this plant is?? Beautiful... just beautiful!" Marcus had a strange sensation in his fingers—almost as if he already wanted to shoot the man. Fortunately for Parrish, the feeling soon passed as his ramblings fell on deaf ears. Marcus had tuned him out.

"Okay," Evan said as they all moved into thicker vegetation, "Cadman, take point. I'll take our six. Mars--" The younger Lorne suddenly interrupted.

"I should take point," Marcus said.

"Mars, I'm not gonna get into this with you right now," Evan informed him. "You're the newest member of my team. Cadman's taking point."

"Then, let me take our six."

"No," the air force major tried the direct approach. "End of discussion."

"End of discussion?" his brother repeated. "No, I don't think it is—I think you don't trust me! Cadman and I are both lieutenants, I've had just as much training as she has!"

"That is not the point, Marcus," Evan snapped.

"Um, sir?" Laura began.

"Then, what is the point, Eve?" Marcus demanded. "Is it the fact that I'm younger than you are? You can't stop thinking of me as your younger brother? Or is it something else? You didn't want me to be here in the first place, but you know what? That's too bad! I'm not a kid anymore, you can't keep bossing me around—I can handle myself!"

"But I am your commanding officer, so you do have to obey me!"

"Sir! I think we might have a slight problem!" Cadman shouted. Parrish was speechlessly, but vigorously, nodding his agreement. The two siblings stopped arguing to look through the trees ahead of them. A large group of the natives glared back at them, some sort of body paint on their chests and faces. They meant business. A sudden, sharp twang and an arrow flying past Laura, just missing her, emphasized this point quite nicely.

"Back to the gate!" Evan shouted as he, Marcus, and Cadman fired warning shots into the air. The four team members hurried through the trees, arrows and spears whizzing past on all sides.

"Ouch!" David suddenly cried in pain as he tripped, twisting his ankle.

"I got you!" Laura told him, pulling his arm over her shoulder and helping him along.

"You're just about the right height for this," the biologist managed, grimacing in pain.

"Thanks," she returned, "you're none too tall, yourself."

"Dial it up!" Evan ordered as they reached the small clearing containing the Stargate. Marcus punched in Atlantis' coordinates as Cadman prepared to transmit her IDC. It seemed to take forever for the gate activate. As it finally whooshed into action, an arrow embedded itself into Evan's left shoulder.

"Oh, son of a..." he cursed, firing more shots into the air as he followed his team through the gate. A medical team was just arriving as he rematerialized on the other side. David was being placed on a gurney while a medic was examining Laura's upper arm—the arrow hadn't entirely missed her, after all.

"Eve, you alright?" Marcus asked in concern as the gate shut down. Evan furiously turned to face him.

"Do I look alright to you?" he demanded.

"I'm sor--" his brother started.

"No," Evan cut him off. "Sorry's not good enough—you could've gotten us all killed! If I weren't distracted, that whole situation probably could've been averted! I can't be arguing with you, Marcus!"

"Eve, look, I'm sorry," Marcus tried again. "You're right—as my commanding officer, I have to listen to you. It won't happen again, I promise."

"You're damn right it won't happen again! Go off-world with someone else's team! Better yet, stay in your quarters—at least, then, no one will get killed because of you!" Evan viciously shrugged off the medic who tried to lead him towards the infirmary. "I'm going!" he snapped at her. "I can get there on my own." The medical staff and the rest of his team left, leaving Marcus standing in the center of the gate room... alone.

---


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to all those who reviewed! I'm really having fun with this story and it's nice to hear it's not just me!! And a special thanks to Fraggledragon who translated a line into how it should be written with a Scottish accent.

Chapter 3

_Two years earlier_

Marcus moved aside a stack of clean laundry in search of his ringing cell phone. After a minute, he finally located the device.

"Lorne here," he answered, holding it against his ear with his shoulder as he folded a t-shirt and stuffed it in a drawer.

"And Lorne here," said the voice on the other end. "You changed your cell number."

"Eve!" Marcus exclaimed. "I was starting to think I'd never hear from you again! It's been over a year, hasn't it?"

"Hey, Mars," Evan answered, Marcus could almost see him rubbing a hand against his forehead. "Sorry about that, I really meant to call. My life's been hectic."

"Oh, yeah? What have you been up to?" He already knew the answer, but hoped to hear it from Evan.

"Ah... work stuff. I really can't talk about it."

"C'mon, Eve—it's me. Mars. Your brother? You can tell me anything. You know that."

"Yeah, well, things change," Evan said.

"Do they?" Marcus asked. They became quiet for a moment.

"So... you still a sergeant?"

"Might as well be—my older brother wasn't there to oversee my promotion."

"You got promoted?" Evan asked.

"Yeah," his younger brother replied, "I'm a lieutenant now."

"Good for you! Wish I coulda been there, kid. So, where're ya working?" Marcus quirked a smile.

"I'll tell you if you tell me where you're working first," he said.

"Can't do that, Mars." A hurt expression entered Marcus' eyes.

"Why not? Don't ya trust me anymore?"

"It's not that, Marcus," Evan told him. "Look—I gotta go, okay? I'll give ya a call the next time I get a chance. It was good to hear your voice."

"Yeah," Marcus returned. "You, too. I'll be looking forward to it... Bye."

"Bye, Marcus." Marcus flipped the phone shut and tossed it on the bed.

"Of course you don't trust me. I'm just your kid brother, right?" he murmured disappointedly, then realized how silly he was being. He glanced down at his watch. "Shit, I'm late." He pulled on his jacket and searched around for something that was missing. Finding the small cloth circle, he slapped it on his shoulder and left the room. It read: SG-9.

---

Marcus focused an intense gaze on the round board in front of him. His eyes narrowed slightly. Drawing his hand back, he took aim and was just about to...

"Marcus?"

"Holy—ah, crud!" he jumped in surprise, wrapping his hand around the dart he was about to throw to prevent dropping it. "Cadman, you trying to get a dart in your foot?" he demanded. The blonde chuckled.

"Am I in much danger of that?" she asked.

"Let me just swallow my pride for a moment and say that I'm not very good at this game," Marcus smiled. "Thought since I had some free time, I'd practice a bit. How's the arm?"

"It's fine—won't even leave a scar," Laura replied. "How's the ego?" He glanced at her, the corner of his mouth quirking slightly.

"It's rather bruised, actually," he answered truthfully. "Can someone die from a bruised ego?"

"It depends—you related to McKay?" They laughed.

"Ah, I dunno... he's alright—when he's not making me wanna shoot him."

"You should try getting inside his head sometime," Cadman suggested.

"No!" Marcus responded without hesitation. "I read about that—I'll pass." He turned back towards the recreation room dart board, a shadow clouding his expression. "So, what brings you to hang out with Lt. Failure?"

"Wait a minute," Laura asked. "Are you beating yourself up about the mission? We probably would've been attacked even if you weren't arguing with your brother. You've been off-world before, you should know that by now." She watched as he threw a dart at the board. Having watched Evan play, she was surprised to see how far it was from the center.

"Eve seems to think it's my fault," came the response.

"I don't--" she began, but Mars interrupted.

"You know, when I was a kid, I wanted to be just like him? A lot of kids look up to movie stars or basketball players, but I just wanted to be like my brother," a whimsical smile flickered across his face as he tossed another dart and missed the board entirely. "Then, when I was older, I just wanted to make him proud—to think that I was actually competent and not just his stupid kid brother. But no matter what I do, I always mess up. Never quite make it... I don't even know why I'm telling you all this." Laura stepped forward and took the remaining darts from his hand.

"I came here to get away from my quarters," she told him, "and now that I'm here, I'm gonna ask one of my teammates to join me for a game of darts. After that, I just might drag him along when I got to bug McKay in his lab." She tilted her head to the side and raised her eyebrows questioningly. The corner of Marcus' mouth twitched before his pensive expression was replaced by a smile.

"Yeah, sure," he replied, "count me in."

"Good," she said. "Prepare to get your ass kicked."

---

Evan had pulled his car to a stop in front of Bruce Riley's vacant lot which had been converted for use as a motor bike track. He'd been away for most of the past year due to training and one of his first tasks upon arriving home for leave was to pick up his 15-year-old brother at a friend's house. Airman Lorne got out of the vehicle in time to see Marcus attempt some crazy stunt off a particularly large jump... and fail.

"MARCUS!" he screamed as the younger Lorne crashed. Marcus' friends, being closer, got there first, but Evan shoved them out of the way. One glance told him that the friends were closer to his age than Marcus'. "You idiots!" he yelled at them furiously, "You goddamn morons!"

"Is he okay?" one of them had the presence to ask as another called 911 on his cell.

"Does he look okay to you?!" Evan demanded, gently cradling his brother's head. "Marcus? Hey... hey, dummy? Can you hear me? _Marcus?!_"

"MARCUS!" Major Evan Lorne cried, jerking awake violently, sweat dripping down his face. He winced slightly as the sudden movement caused pain in his shoulder. The air force officer took several deep breaths—he'd come so close to losing Marcus that time that it still scared the crap out of him. Stumbling across to his sink, he splashed cold water on his face. He didn't know what he'd do with himself if he ever truly lost Marcus.

Against his will, Evan's mind wandered back to the events of that horrid year. Immediately following the crash, Marcus' heart had stopped twice. After spending three months in the hospital, one of those in a coma, Marcus had had to learn to walk again, spending the remainder of the year in physical therapy instead of school. Not wanting to finish a year behind his class, Marcus had taken his GED, passing with a very high score.

"Hey, brat," Evan had greeted when he'd gone to pick Marcus up from therapy one time.

"Eve!" Marcus looked up from the parallel bars he was walking. "How's the Air Force treating ya?"

"It's great. Tough, but I enjoy it. You done?" A glance at the therapist, who gave a head nod, confirmed this. Evan grabbed Marcus' crutches and offered them to him.

"Nah," he'd refused. "Just lemme put a hand on your shoulder."

"You sure?" Evan asked, stepping closer so his brother could lean on him.

"Yeah—I wanna do this." The younger Lorne had been determined, concentrating on each and every step, limping the whole way. They'd gotten to the doors before Marcus' legs gave out from under him.

"Easy, there!" Evan said, catching him before he fell to the ground. "Hold these," he handed the crutches to Marcus before hoisting him up in his arms. Marcus hung his head back.

"How humiliating!" he moaned.

"Hey, at least you're still light—don't expect me to carry you like this when you're as tall as I am."

"If I ever get as tall as you are."

"Yeah... eight inches is pretty far to go," Evan chuckled, setting Marcus in the passenger's seat of his car. He became serious. "You shouldn't push yourself so hard." Marcus looked back into his older brother's tired face.

"Neither should you."

---

Evan made his bed the same way he had for years. He chuckled softly to himself. Boy, was Marcus a lot like him! It was almost like looking into a mirror and seeing an image of who he was four years prior. He recalled punching an older girl in the stomach when he was five because she said that Marcus looked funny. Of course, he had been well informed of the virtues of not hitting girls after that, but Evan had known, even then, that he'd never let anything bad happen to his brother. Ever. Granted, it was lot easier when they were little and Marcus just did everything he said, but that didn't keep him from trying.

Major Lorne left his quarters and headed towards the mess hall, his thoughts churning. The motor bike accident was neither the first nor the last of Marcus' stunts that put his life in peril, but it was the only one that still gave Evan nightmares after all these years. He just got the feeling that if he'd been there a moment later, Marcus would've been lost forever.

"Major," a voice interrupted his musings, "how's the shoulder?" Evan looked up to see Elizabeth.

"Dr. Weir," he returned. "It's, uh, it's fine. The doc doesn't want me to do anything for at least another week." He chuckled, then mimicked Carson's brogue: " 'A told yeh not tae dae anythin' but I bloody well knew yeh widnae listen tae me. But if yeh have tae move anything heavy Major, for God sake have someone else dae it for yeh!' " Weir smiled appreciatively at the reference to her CMO. That certainly sounded a lot like Carson, alright.

"Since you're here, I thought I'd let you know that I'm going to send Marcus out with Major Harris and his team," Elizabeth said as she fell in step beside him.

"What? Why?" Evan wanted to know. "I thought he'd been placed on my team."

"I just don't think that's going to work out, Major," she told him patiently. "Apparently, Marcus can't stop thinking of you as his older brother anymore than you can stop thinking of him as your younger one."

"Yeah, but—I just wasn't use to being around him again," the man protested. "It's been awhile, you know? Look, just one more mission. If it doesn't work out, you can put him on someone else's team and I won't say a word—I swear." He gave her a pleading look and she couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Very well," Weir consented, "but in the meantime, since you are banned from off-world duty, I think it would be good for Marcus to work with some of the other people on this base and start to become part of the community."

"Alright," Evan sighed.

"Oh, and Evan?"

"Yes, Dr. Weir?"

"In case you were wondering, the team leaves in one hour."

"Thanks," the air force major smiled. She knew him better than he'd thought.

---


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Evan had decided to grab a quick breakfast before heading off to find Marcus, but as luck would have it, Marcus was eating his own breakfast in the mess hall. Grabbing some food from the counter, he approached the table where his brother sat with his back towards him talking animatedly to two of the other new personnel.

"Oh, yeah! I remember hearing about that!" Marcus laughed. "Colonel Stevens thought you two were a couple of amateurs!"

"From what I hear, that was a far cry better than what he thought of you," commented the dark haired woman across from him.

"What? Nah, that's an understatement!" he declared and they all laughed. Marcus straightened and deepened his voice. "Sergeant, if so much as even _your_ SHAD-ow crosses me, you will re-GRET the day you were born!"

"Isaiah Stevens?" Evan asked. "Is he still at the SGC?" Marcus' friends looked up in surprise and Evan thought he heard Marcus groan.

"Yes, sir," answered the woman as she and the man next to her raised their hands to salute.

"As you were," Evan told them. "Mind if I sit here?" He directed the last part at Marcus.

"No, sir," came the response. "Feel free to sit where you want." Marcus' friends rose to leave.

"If you'll excuse us, sir, we have some things to attend to," said the young man.

"No problem."

"Bye, Marcus!" the girl waved at the younger Lorne before turning to leave. Evan nudged him with his elbow.

"Hey, I think she likes you," he chuckled. "What's her name?"

"That," Marcus sighed, "is Cassia Black. She has a fiancé. What did I do this time?"

"What makes you think you did anything?" Evan demanded. "Can't a guy eat breakfast with his younger brother?"

"Depends on the guy. So far, you can't come near me without telling me what to do or yelling at me for doing something wrong, so forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical." Marcus stood to leave. Evan grabbed him by the arm.

"Aw, c'mon—don't tell me your feelings are hurt. Just sit down, will ya?" he told him.

"Oh, no, not at all," Marcus retorted, pulling his arm free. "Why would my feelings be hurt? I only came to an entirely different galaxy looking forward to seeing my older brother again, hoping that maybe, just _maybe_, he might be happy to see me again, too. Instead, he asks me what the hell I'm doing here. After that, he goes to the person in charge and tells her to send me back—oh, yes, I have my sources. Then, when I try to apologize for a mistake I made, he tells me to stay in my quarters. So, yes, Eve, my feelings are hurt, but you know what? I'm sorry I even have feelings. I'll add it to the continuously growing list of everything else I've done wrong."

"Yeah, you do that!" Evan told him. "God, you're so immature! You wanna know why I keep treating you like a kid? It's because you can't stop acting like one. It's bad enough you can't keep yourself out of trouble, you've got to whine about it, too!" The air force major grimaced when he'd finished, directing his gaze towards the table as his brother stared at him in shock.

"I... I can't beli—never thought that you..." Marcus stammered. He looked like he'd just been sucker-punched, and in a sense, he had been--Evan had never said anything like that to him before. "How could you say something like that, Eve? You're my brother! Or I least I thought you were... I don't know anymore and I'm not sure I care. Just... just don't talk to me anymore, alright? I'm tired of listening." He picked up his tray and left without another word.

"Damn it," Evan cursed softly. He was suppose to protect Marcus, not cause him more pain. Shoving his own tray aside, Major Lorne rested his head on the table. How could he possibly keep his brother safe when he kept pushing him away?

--

_Gate room, about an hour later_

"Hey," Major Harris nudged Marcus as the gate dialed out.

"Yes, sir?" the lieutenant answered.

"Cheer up—your gloomy face is getting me down," his CO informed him. "I've heard nothing but good things about you, lieutenant. Don't go second-guessing yourself just because you're having problems with your brother, you hear?"

"Yes, sir."

"You have go, Major," Elizabeth called down from the control room balcony. "Take care." Major Harris nodded to her.

"Alright, move out!" he told his team. SGA-6 proceeded through the open wormhole and the gate shut down behind them. Evan had watched, unseen, from one of the doorways. He was pondering what Major Harris had said to Marcus. Curious, he made his way to Weir's office.

"Dr. Weir?" he said, stopping just outside the open door.

"Come in, Major," she told him. "What can I do for you?"

"You, uh, you said that Marcus came here with sound recommendations?"

"He did."

"Well, I was... um, I was wondering what the people back at the SGC had to say about him," Evan said.

"Thought you might," she gave a wry smile. "I don't usually do this, but since you are his brother, I'm gonna let you look at these." She handed him a small file with a few documents concerning Marcus.

"Thanks." Evan gave her a smile before leaving the office. He found a deserted balcony to sit and read the pages within the folder.

"_Lt. Lorne is so like his brother, I could have strangled him,"_ Col. Steven's had typed. _"If his numerous improvisations and hair-brained ideas hadn't worked, I would have shot him long ago. He's a fine officer. A credit to his family. He'll be a good fit on Atlantis."_

"_The few times Lt. Lorne worked with our team while he was on SG-9,"_ wrote Samantha Carter, _"I was impressed by the way he always managed to keep his head. I kept wanting to call him 'Major' because he's so much like his brother. He'll be missed here, but if he goes, I'm sure he'll be ecstatic to be with his brother—he's always talking about him."_

"_I'm tempted to give him a bad recommendation just so we can get to keep him," _Marcus' commanding officer admitted. _"But the truth is, that's all he's wanted for more than two years, and he deserves it. He's earned my respect and that of the rest of the team. Oh, he has his faults—he's impetuous and hard-headed, quick to rush into trouble—but he's a good officer. I think he'll do well in Pegasus."_

There were various other bits about and by Marcus: a few awards, stuff concerning his promotions (from Chief Master Sergeant to 2nd Lieutenant and from 2nd Lieutenant to 1st), a handful of complaints, but what impacted Evan the most was a line from Marcus' request to transfer:

"_It would be a lie to say that part of the reason I want to go to Atlantis isn't just to be with my brother—so I'm not gonna say otherwise. I miss him. I do. And maybe we won't even get along anymore, but you know what? It'd be worth finding out..."_ Evan could almost hear Marcus speaking the words, his brown eyes filled with that earnest, hopeful look that he always used to get whenever he spoke of something he looked forward to.

"Oh, my god," the air force major murmured to himself as a thought suddenly struck him. "Mars thinks he's gotta prove himself to me..."

--

Evan made his way through the corridors towards his quarters, silently berating himself for not having realized that Marcus only wanted his acceptance. He decided that he would find a way to make it up to him when he returned. As he passed by the mess hall, Laura stepped into the hallway.

"Oh, hi, sir," she greeted, mildly surprised.

"Hey, Cadman," he returned. "Enjoying the time off?"

"Immensely, sir," his 2IC grinned, then frowned. "Why the long face? You're not in pain are you? If you are, I'm sure Carson would be glad to--"

"Nah," Eve interrupted. "I'm fine. Just thinking."

"About Marcus?"

"Yeah." She fell in step beside him.

"What happened between you two?"

"Ah, just another disagreement—nothing big."

"If you don't mind my saying, sir," Laura clarified, "it seems you two were really close once."

"Yeah. We were. I'm not sure what happened," Evan answered. "We just kinda... drifted. I used to call him all the time and spend time with him whenever I was leave. It was something small—I don't even remember what it was—sometime after the ac... after Mars had been hurt. We had a disagreement and I didn't call him for awhile. Seemed to get worse after that—like the longer we spent apart, the less we could get along. You know, he'd worked at the SGC for almost two and a half years before he came here and I never even bothered to ask or try to find out where he was stationed."

"But you still checked in on him when you got a chance—that's gotta count for something." He shook his head.

"I should've done better—I shouldn't have let us drift apart like that..." Cadman put a hand on his arm and he stopped.

"The past is gone, sir," she reminded him. "Marcus is here, now." She gave a small smile and a quick salute before parting down a separate corridor leading towards the infirmary, no doubt going to see Carson. He let out a small sigh. She was right.

--

Elizabeth settled into the chair behind her desk. The day had been a bit hectic, but nothing unmanageable. It was when things got quiet that she started to worry. Despite the constant flow of things to attend to, though, she had been able to catch up on some of her paperwork, so that was a plus.

The time passed rather quickly. Col. Sheppard's team had managed to return only a few minutes behind schedule and in one piece for a change. Carson, out of habit, had already had a med team standing by for their arrival. He was surprised when the premiere team casually strolled into the infirmary for their post-mission exams (though, not without a bit of apprehension). SGA-3 left on their mission a short while after that.

Dr. Kavanaugh had come in for his daily complaint (wasn't he supposed to have left on the Daedalus?), this time against Dr. Zelenka. Radek came in about ten minutes after that with his rebuttal ("He's not even supposed to be here! He's supposed to be on the Daedalus for a month!"). After that, the rest of the day settled into a routine. No sooner had she thought that she just might finish all of her back-work, than the alarm began to sound.

"Unscheduled off-world activation!" Chuck declared.

"Who is it?" Weir demanded.

"We're receiving an IDC, now... it's Major Harris, ma'am."

"Lower the shield!"

"We need a medical team!" came a frantic shout from Major Harris as the incoming team poured through the gate. "We've got wounded!"

--

_To be continued..._


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks again to Fraggledragon for her wonderful assistance and to all who've reviewed (and to those who've enjoyed the story and not reviewed, shame on you! JK). I really enjoyed writing this story and I hope it's been even half as fun to read.

And now...

Chapter 5

Major Evan Lorne slowed to a fast walk as he returned to the inhabited part of the city from his run. Physical exertion always helped him wind down when he was tense. Granted, now his shoulder ached from being jostled in such a manner, but the rest of his body felt great, so he decided it had been worth it. Besides—it had helped take his mind off Marcus. Maybe he was just being over-protective, but old habits died hard.

"Major!" Evan turned as he heard Laura's voice. The woman jogged up to him. "You didn't answer your comm. We've been trying to contact you." He reached for his ear to find that his radio was missing.

"I must've left it in my quarters," he returned, then noticed her expression. "Wait a minute—why have you been trying to contact me? What happened?"

"Harris and his team returned early," she told him. "They had wounded."

"Mars?"

"I don't know, sir." Evan pushed past her and ran towards the infirmary, his heart beating even faster.

---

_Infirmary_

"It'll no' heal overnight, but gie it some rest and yeh'll be right as rain in nae time," Carson Beckett told his patient. He was about to continue when Evan rushed in. The Scot stepped aside as the Air Force major made a beeline for the man in the bed. Marcus' eyes bulged when his older brother wrapped him in a firm embrace.

"Um..." he began awkwardly, "I just sprained my ankle... Bale's the one that's hurt." Carson left to see to his other patients.

"Thank God you're alright," Evan sighed in relief. "If anything happened to you, I'd never forgive myself." Marcus stared at him as he pulled away.

"You really mean that," he murmured in surprise.

"Of course I do, brat," the older man playfully mussed his hair. "You're my brother." Marcus' mouth quirked into a crooked smile.

"Yeah. I guess I knew that."

"So, what happened?" Evan asked.

"The structure collapsed on us," the younger Lorne answered. "Mostly on Bale. We had to dig him out. I rolled my ankle in the loose rubble."

"So, I was just about to have a heart-attack over a sprained ankle?"

"Doc did say it was bad, but probably not that bad."

"You're just trying to make me age," Evan accused with a grin. "Anyhow, since you're alright, I'm going to go take a shower."

"Well, I wasn't about to say anything..." Marcus smirked. "I'll walk with ya part way. Lemme put a hand on your shoulder." Evan had a flashback of a fifteen-year-old kid saying those exact same words.

"You been released yet?" he asked.

"Not technically..." Marcus answered. "C'mon, Eve—it's a sprained ankle!"

"Stay here until you are," Evan told him. "I'm not about to get chewed out for helping you escape." His brother rolled his eyes dramatically as he turned to leave.

"Hey, Eve?"

"Yeah?"

"We were pretty close once, weren't we?" Evan's blue eyes locked with Marcus' brown ones.

"Mars, no matter how well we get along, we'll always be close."

---

_A couple weeks later_

Major Evan Lorne and his team neared the entrance to the network of tunnels that SGA-4 had detected on a previous mission. David didn't look too thrilled to be heading underground as Laura handed him a flashlight, giving him an expression which translated, "Buck it up, pal."

"Alright," Evan commanded. "Cadman, take point, I'll take our six..." he trailed off momentarily, half-expecting Marcus to say something, but he didn't. "Actually, Mars, you take our six. Parrish, stay close to me and... don't touch anything." As the four of them entered into the unknown, the two brothers looked at each other. Evan simply gave a nod while the corner of Marcus' mouth began to  
quirk.

---

End.


End file.
